Racking storage system

ABSTRACT

A post for racking comprises a front wall (2), and first and second side walls extending rearwardly from each longitudinal side of the front wall, the front wall having a longitudinally extending trough (7), and a first and a second series (5, 5&#39;) of spaced apertures (15) on opposite sides of the trough (7). Each side wall comprises a front wall portion (3, 3&#39;), and a second side wall portion (4, 4&#39;), with the two portions joined by an inwardly inclined portion (11, 11&#39;, 13 13&#39;). The post is interchangeable with a number of posts having different load bearing capabilities. This is achieved by ensuring that the distant b separating outer faces (25) of the trough (7) from the outer faces (26) of the adjacent side walls are the same for all posts in the range.

This invention relates to racking and in particular to racking storagesystems commonly referred to as pallet racking.

Pallet racking comprises a number of upright frames and a number ofcross beams supported at least at one end by an upright frame.Additional fittings may be used to adapt the pallet racking for storageof a variety of articles such as drums, timber, piping, crates, etc.

Each upright frame comprises two uprights, upper and lower cross membersand a number of diagonal braces extending between the two uprights. Eachupright may comprise a single post or a number of posts connected bylongitudinally extending joining means.

Typically each post is made of metal of a specified gauge and ismanufactured in a rolling mill operation. In manufacture it ispreferable to utilise a cross-section, or profile, which maximises theload bearing capability of the post for the gauge of metal selected. Anadditional consideration in selecting the profile, or profiles, to beused is that it may be desirable to connect posts of different loadbearing capabilities. The profile or profiles selected should be suchthat compressive loads may be efficiently transmitted between thelongitudinally joined posts without causing an increased likelihood ofone of the posts buckling.

Numerous solutions to one or both of these problems have been proposedin the past and a wide variety of profiles are currently used in rackingand storage systems, none of which are entirely satisfactory.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a new form of profilefor use in racking.

According to a first aspect the invention consists in a post for rackingcomprising a front wall, first opposed side wall portions extendingrearwardly from the front wall, and second opposed side wall portionsextending rearwardly of and substantially parallel to the first sidewall portions being joined thereto by inwardly inclined portions, thefront wall being provided with a longitudinally extending rearwardlydirected trough, and a first and a second series of spaced aperturesdisposed on opposite sides of the trough.

An advantage of a post according to the invention is that the troughstrengthens the post, particularly by increasing resistance of the frontwall to buckling.

Preferably the trough is centrally located in the front wall and isequi-spaced between the first and second series of apertures.

In a preferred form the second side wall portions may be spaced apart bya distance equal to the width of a diagonal brace which may be securedbetween the second side wall portions when the post is incorporated in aracking storage system.

Preferably each second side wall portion is provided with a series ofapertures, the apertures in each portion being opposed and adapted toreceive a bolt or other fixing means to secure a brace to the post.

The second side wall portions may each be provided with an outwardlyprojecting flange extending from a rear edge of the second side wallportion.

In one form of the post each inwardly inclined portion may besubstantially parallel to the front wall. Alternatively it may be angledrelative to the front wall.

In a preferred embodiment the first and second series of apertures maybe arranged such that apertures in the first and second series arealigned. Advantageously each aperture may have a shape which issymmetrical about a transverse axis. This has a particular advantage inthat a post having such apertures may be reversible which means that theorientation of the post is not critical during construction of theupright frame thereby facilitating construction of the racking storagesystem.

In one preferred form the apertures may have an elongated octagonalshaped perimeter.

It may be desirable to manufacture a range of posts having varying loadbearing capabilities. A problem which has been encountered with existingranges of posts is that whilst a connector joined to a cross beam mayinterlock securely with one post in the range it may interlock lesssecurely with another post in the same range having a different loadbearing capability.

According to a second aspect the invention consists in a range of postshaving different load bearing capabilities, each post having a frontwall, and first and second opposed side walls, each side wall extendingrearwardly from a respective longitudinal side of the front wall, eachside wall comprising a first side wall portion extending rearwardly fromthe front wall, a second side wall portion extending rearwardly of andsubstantially parallel by the respective first side wall portion, beingjoined thereto by an inwardly inclined portion, the front wall having alongitudinally extending rearwardly directed trough comprising first andsecond side portions and a rear face spaced rearwardly from the frontwall, and a first and a second series of spaced apertures disposed onopposite sides of the trough, each post in the range being soconstructed and arranged that an outer face of one of the first sidewall portions and an outer face of the adjacent first side portion ofthe trough are separated by a distance which is equal to a distanceseparating an outer face of the other first side wall portion and anouter face of the adjacent second side portion of the trough, and is thesame for all posts in the range.

An advantage of a range according to the second aspect of the inventionis that a connector which interlocks securely with one post in the rangewill interlock securely with all the posts in the range.

A suitable connector for use with a range of posts in accordance withthe invention may comprise a front flange provided with a series ofprojections adapted to locate in one of the series of apertures in thefront wall of the post, a first side flange adapted to engage againstthe outer face of the first side portion of the trough, and a secondlonger side flange adapted to engage against the outer face of the firstside wall.

In a preferred form of post the trough is centrally located in the frontwall and each series of apertures is equi-spaced from the trough.

Advantageously posts may be made of different gauges of metal to provideposts having different load bearing capabilities.

Preferably as well as the distance between the outer face of the firstside portion of the trough and the outer face of the first side wallremaining constant throughout the range, other dimensions may also befixed such as the distance between the outer faces of the first andsecond side walls.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only,with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section of a post in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of a modified post;

FIG. 3 s a front view of a section of the post illustrated in FIG. 1 orFIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section of a connector suitable for use with a post inaccordance with the invention.

A post 1 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings comprises a front wall2, first opposed side wall portions 3,3' extending rearwardly from thefront wall and second opposed side wall portions 4,4' extendingrearwardly of and substantially parallel to the first side wallportions. The front wall has a first and second series 5,5' of spacedapertures located adjacent longitudinally extending side regions 6,6'from which the first side wall portions 3,3' extend. A longitudinallyextending trough 7 is centrally located in the front wall and comprisesfirst side portions 8 and a rear face 9. The trough is equi-spaced fromeach series of apertures 5,5' which are located on opposite sides of thetrough. A number of round holes 10 are located in the rear face 9 of thetrough.

In the post shown in FIG. 1, each second side wall portion 4,4' isjoined to the respective first side wall portion by an inclined portion11,11', the inclined portion being angled at substantially 60° relativeto the front wall. The second side wall portions are separated by adistance a and are adapted to receive a diagonal brace (not shown)therebetween, the distance a being such that sides of the brace areclosely abutted by the second side wall portions. A series of opposedapertures 12 is located centrally in each second side wall portion 4,4'.A sufficient number of apertures 12 are provided to enable braces to befixed to the post at suitable intervals. A suitable method of fixing thebrace to the post is by passing a bolt through the aligned apertures andthrough a suitable aperture or other fixing means in the brace.Alternatively the brace may be welded in position.

FIG. 2 shows a modified post made of a heavier gauge metal in which thefront wall 2, trough 7 and first side wall portions 3,3' correspond tothose of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. The second side wall portions4,4' extend rearwardly of and substantially parallel to the first sidewall portions 3,3'. Inclined portions 13,13' joining the second sidewall portions to the first side wall portions are angled such that theyare substantially parallel to the front wall. Again the second side wallportions are separated by a distance which is such that a brace issnugly received between the second side wall portions 4,4'. As in thepost of FIG. 1 a number of aligned apertures 12 centrally located ineach of the second side wall portions 4,4' are adapted to receive a boltto secure a brace to the post. An outwardly extending flange 14,14' isprovided at the free end of each second side wall portion 4,4' remotefrom the inclined portion 13.

As can be seen best in FIG. 3 the front wall of a post is provided witha first and second series 5,5' of apertures 15, each series 5,5'extending along a length of post adjacent a side region 6,6'. Eachaperture 15 is symmetrical about a transverse axis and is shaped like alongitudinally elongated octagon. Since the apertures 15 are symmetricaland each series 5,5' is equi-spaced from the centrally located trough 7the post may be incorporated into an upright frame with either endorientated upwards, thus facilitating construction of the upright frame.

An L-shaped connector 16 adapted to be used with the posts previouslydescribed is illustrated in FIG. 4. The L-shaped connector comprises afront flange 17 and a first side flange 18, to an outer face 19 of whicha cross member may be secured by welding or other fixing means. Thefront flange is provided with a series of hook-like projections 20adapted to extend in use rearwardly and downwardly through one of theseries of apertures 15 to secure the connector to the post. At an end 21remote from the first side flange the front flange has a longitudinallyextending second side flange 22 adapted to be received in use in thecentral trough 7 of a post.

The connector is dimensioned such that an inner face 23 of the firstside flange 18 and an inner face 24 of the second side flange 22 areseparated by a distance b which is the same distance as that between anouter face 25 of the first side portion 8 and an outer face 26 of thefirst side wall portion 3 of the post described above with reference toFIG. 1 or FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings.

It can be seen that this distance b is the same in both embodiments ofpost illustrated. In a range of posts produced of varying gauges ofmetal this dimension b is kept constant, inner dimensions of the postvarying with the gauge of metal utilised. A connector which isdimensioned to fit securely on one post in the range will fit any of theposts in the range, which is a great advantage in terms of simplicityand adaptability.

In producing a range of posts, the distances b and a are kept constant,the distance b being the most important. It may also be desirable tokeep other distances constant throughout the range such as a distance cbetween a front face 27 of the front wall and an axis of the apertures12 in the second side wall portions 4,4'. In addition the total distancebetween the outer faces 26 of the first side wall portions is constantthroughout the range.

We claim:
 1. A post for racking comprising a front wall, first opposedside wall portions extending rearwardly from the front wall, and secondopposed side wall portions extending rearwardly of and substantiallyparallel to the first side wall portions being joined thereto byinwardly directed portions, the front wall being provided with alongitudinally extending rearwardly directed trough and a first seriesand a second series of spaced apertures disposed on opposite sides ofthe trough, wherein each second side wall portion is provided with aseries of apertures, the apertures in each said served side wall portionbeing opposed and adapted to receive a bolt or other fixing means tosecure a brace to the post.
 2. A post according to claim 1, wherein thetrough is centrally located in the front wall and is equi-spaced betweenthe first and second series of apertures.
 3. A post according to claim1, wherein the second side wall portions are spaced apart by a distanceequal to the width of a diagonal brace which is adapted to be securedbetween the second side wall portions when the post is incorporated in aracking storage system.
 4. A post according to claim 1, wherein eachsecond side wall portion is provided with an outwardly projecting flangeextending from a rear edge of the second side wall portion.
 5. A postaccording to claim 4, wherein each inwardly inclined portion is parallelto the front wall.
 6. A post according to claim 1, wherein each inwardlyinclined portion is angled with respect to the front wall, and the twoinclined portions converge in a direction extending rearwardly withrespect to the front wall.
 7. A range of posts for racking havingdifferent load bearing capabilities, each post having a front wall, andfirst and second opposed side walls, each side wall extending rearwardlyfrom a respective longitudinal side of the front wall, each side wallcomprising a first side wall portion extending rearwardly from the frontwall, a second side wall portion extending rearwardly of andsubstantially parallel to the respective first side wall portion, beingjoined thereto by an inwardly directed portion, the front wall having alongitudinally extending rearwardly directed trough comprising first andsecond side portions and a rear face spaced rearwardly from the frontwall, and a first series and a second series of spaced aperturesdisposed on opposite sides of the trough, each post in the range beingso constructed and arranged that an outer face of one of the first sidewall portions and an outer face of the adjacent first side portion ofthe trough are separated by a distance which is equal to a distanceseparating an outer face of the other first side wall portion and anouter face of the adjacent second side portion of the trough, and is thesame for all posts in the range, wherein each second side wall portionof each post is provided with a series of apertures, the apertures ineach said second side wall portion being opposed and adapted to receivea bolt or other fixing means to secure a brake to the post.
 8. A postaccording to claim 7, wherein the trough is centrally located in thefront wall.
 9. A post according to claim 7, wherein each series ofapertures is equi-spaced from the trough.
 10. A post according to claim7, wherein the first and second series of apertures are aligned.
 11. Apost according to claim 7, wherein each aperture has a shape which issymmetrical about axis which are mutually normal to each other.
 12. Apost according to claim 7, wherein each aperture has an elongateoctagonal shaped perimeter.
 13. A post according to claim 12, whereineach aperture is elongate in a longitudinal direction, the side edges ofthe aperture, defining abutments for projections on a pair ofconnectors, and inclined edges at the lower ends of the side edgesdefining a wedging engagement with the projections.